The budget reconciliation bill aims to slash funding in certain areas to create funds for other areas, such as hurricane reconstruction. No one would argue that hurricane relief is a bad thing to fund. However, is it just to do this at the expense of shutting the opportunity of higher education to the nation’s poor?

Nearly half of qualified college-bound youths do not enter college because of financial issues. Legislation of this sort shows no concern for the middle and lower-class students in the United States. It simply conveys that it wants to keep higher education guarded for the privileged elite.

Both the Senate and House are scheduled to vote on the bill this week, which will be the deciding factor on whether the average student would have to pay $5,800 more in loans during their lifetime.

If passed, the budget reconciliation bill will take the largest cut in funding for student aid in history. The current administration has already proved it is capable of setting interesting records, however, students should refuse to be part of the passive generations that haven’t spoken up against it.

Today, nearly 40 percent of students who graduate live their lives under what is a considered a manageable level of debt. The bill proposed seeks to increase this statistic given that students would have to take out more loans and, in consequence, spend more of their life paying off school tuition.

The time has come for students to be in solidarity with other students as well as with those who value the role of higher education in a democratic society by expressing strong resistance toward the budget reconciliation bill. If this struggle isn’t taken up, the chances of this trend to slash student aid likely will not end. The current road our country is taking can lead only to the reality that we are pushing toward privatization of education.